The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Spurt in burglaries a cause for concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 12, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Spurt in burglaries a cause for concern

It is a cat and mouse game that reaches a crescendo every summer. But this time around the mouse appears to be outsmarting its rival.

The allusion is to the recent burglaries and the resourcefulness shown by burglars in evading the police.

In 2003, the city reported 293 burglaries in the first five months. This year, the figure was less at 183. But still a figure of some concern for citizens, especially when in the last one week alone over 400 sovereigns of gold jewellery were stolen from four different houses in the city.

The first to be burgled was the residence of a former High Court advocate at Aminjikarai.

The burglars gained entry into the house after removing the window grilles of one of the rooms and escaped with jewellery worth Rs.7 lakhs.

This was followed by break-ins at Teynampet and Thiruvanmiyur. The last to be reported was at T. Nagar, at the residence of a former government official, from where intruders escaped with 125 sovereigns of jewellery.

The burglars had removed a kitchen window to gain access.

Police now say the perpetrators of the two major burglaries at Aminjikarai and Thiruvanmiyur are two criminals who have been evading the police since 1999.

"The two share 25 cases of burglary offences between them," says Sylendra Babu, Joint Commissioner of Police (North and Central).

"The fact that we don't have any existing data base such as finger prints or photographs on them hinders our investigation."

Besides, "burglars are getting dangerously intelligent", claim the police.

They work with professional zeal and plan their operations so ingeniously that it becomes a "continuous battle of wits."

April-May still continues to be a period when there is an overall increase in the number of burglaries, as many families are on vacation.

A few others leave doors and windows open for relief from the sultry weather. The police claim there is `nothing abnormal' in the number of incidents reported over the last week.

"Yes, we do admit there is crime taking place in the city. But there is nothing alarming about the trend of an average of two burglaries for a city with a population of seven million," says a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.

Nevertheless, in an attempt to track down the elusive criminals, the police have constituted a special team under the control of a Joint Commissioner for intensifying night patrolling. The 2,000- strong team, which came into force on Monday includes 1,000 policemen apart from members of the Friends of Police, community police and Home Guards.

It has 200 officers in the rank of sub- inspectors. Two Deputy Commissioners are assisting the patrol team on a regular basis.

The team will focus on identifying ex-convicts and keeping track of their movements.

Which means the cat is getting its act together. Will the mice get smarter?

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Spurt in burglaries a cause for concern